Senior Emergency Centers
The next time Grandma needs to go to the hospital, she may get her very own emergency room.
That’s because a growing number of hospitals now offer separate ERs specially designed for the elderly. The rooms are known as “senior emergency centers,” or “geriatric emergency departments.” They’re meant to cater medical services to the needs and sensibilities of people age 65 and up.
For example: In senior ERs, there are no blinking lights, beeping machines, or frantic medical staff. Instead, the vibe is more quiet and clinical, as staff circulates among the patients making small talk, while offering reading glasses, hearing aids, or Sudoko puzzles. Also, the beds in senior ERs have thicker mattresses to reduce bedsores. To keep the noise down, the curtain rings and rods are made of plastic instead of metal.
So, why are hospitals building separate ER units just for seniors? Because older patients tend to have special needs that most traditional ERs overlook, so they’re more likely to become the victim of medical errors, or dangerous medication mix-ups. In fact, statistics show that seniors who’ve been treated in standard ERs have a 1-in-4 chance of returning within three months!
Some critics say senior ERs are nothing more than marketing gimmicks for hospitals and they worry that the units distract from the fact that hospitals should be offering their best care to everyone, not just the elderly. But so far, the new senior emergency centers seem to be working. For example: In the three years since St. Joseph’s Hospital in New Jersey opened their senior ER, unscheduled return visits by the elderly have dropped 19% percent.
That’s because a growing number of hospitals now offer separate ERs specially designed for the elderly. The rooms are known as “senior emergency centers,” or “geriatric emergency departments.” They’re meant to cater medical services to the needs and sensibilities of people age 65 and up.
For example: In senior ERs, there are no blinking lights, beeping machines, or frantic medical staff. Instead, the vibe is more quiet and clinical, as staff circulates among the patients making small talk, while offering reading glasses, hearing aids, or Sudoko puzzles. Also, the beds in senior ERs have thicker mattresses to reduce bedsores. To keep the noise down, the curtain rings and rods are made of plastic instead of metal.
So, why are hospitals building separate ER units just for seniors? Because older patients tend to have special needs that most traditional ERs overlook, so they’re more likely to become the victim of medical errors, or dangerous medication mix-ups. In fact, statistics show that seniors who’ve been treated in standard ERs have a 1-in-4 chance of returning within three months!
Some critics say senior ERs are nothing more than marketing gimmicks for hospitals and they worry that the units distract from the fact that hospitals should be offering their best care to everyone, not just the elderly. But so far, the new senior emergency centers seem to be working. For example: In the three years since St. Joseph’s Hospital in New Jersey opened their senior ER, unscheduled return visits by the elderly have dropped 19% percent.
